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Stop Dropping This Naive Take About Caitlin Clark and Come Back to Reality

The WNBA superstar can’t control the runaway narratives that surround her.
Jimmy Traina|
Caitlin Clark continues to generate buzz on a daily basis.
Caitlin Clark continues to generate buzz on a daily basis. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Indiana Fever

1. Another day, another Caitlin Clark take that makes little sense.

Netflix’s Elle Duncan, during a recent appearance on The Sports Gossip Show, called on Clark to be more vocal about people “using” the WNBA star.

“I would love for it to be very clear to the people who think they are her fans but are using her,” Duncan said, via Awful Announcing, “if she would say, ‘Stop that s---, I don’t want it, I’m tired of it.’ As opposed to what we’ve seen, which is, ‘The media makes up these narratives, the media makes up this discourse.’

“That’s not true. The media highlights the stories, and they show it, but at the same time, like, the media did not make up that members of Congress are trying to get literal government intervention into whether you get fouled too hard. Like, this stuff has to stop.”

I’m not sure how Duncan can say the media doesn’t make up narratives after that ridiculous USA Today column last week, but the real point here is that thinking Clark can stop or curtail the circus surrounding her is nothing but a pipe dream.

Does Duncan think Clark saying anything would cause one person to change their behavior? This is nothing but fantasy land. Clark can denounce all she wants. Zero will change.

I don’t need to follow the WNBA, the Fever or Caitlin Clark to know that society is at a low point when it comes to our conduct, especially on social media. Everything is completely out of control these days. We sink lower and lower each day. Clark doesn’t have a chance in hell at changing anything by issuing statements.

Throw in the fact that grifting has become big business in the media world and that people use Clark’s name for engagement, and you’ve got a situation where people are going to double down, not stand down.

I’m not even going to debate whether this is Clark’s responsibility to do what Duncan suggests or whether Clark needs to do anything but play basketball.

Clark can come out every day and say, “Don’t do this” or “Don’t do that” and it will do absolutely nothing. She can do anything she wants on a basketball court. She can’t get a society that’s more divided than ever to alter its behavior.

2. SiriusXM just announced today that it will now offer a sports-only subscription plan.

You can subscribe for $5 a month or $49 for the year. This will get you all games from all leagues plus the sports-related channels.

3. I don’t know what kind of microphones the Angels use in their stadium, but the sound off of Yordan Alvarez’s bat Tuesday night was something else.

4. Former wide receiver Adam Thielen appeared on ESPN’s NFL Live on Tuesday. If he keeps dropping great nuggets, like this one, he’s going to end up as a regular on the show.

5. This is disgusting.

6. The latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina, featuring an interview with Puck media reporter John Ourand, dropped on Thursday.

Ourand goes in-depth on the ESPN layoffs, explaining why they happened and how they happened. We also discuss the unfortunate situation with Ryan Clark finding out while he was on the air that he was being let go, how the NFL Network factors into all this, why the network parted ways with longtime broadcaster Karl Ravech and much more.

Other topics covered with Ourand include the bidding war for the broadcast rights to the next World Cup in 2030, why the NBA is anxiously waiting for LeBron James to make a free agency decision, Tom Brady’s very busy weekend and the NFL’s negotiations for new broadcast deals.

Following Ourand, Sal Licata from SNY TV and The Sal Licata Show joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we discuss the World Cup final and the halftime show, a wild story about James Dolan and Madison Square Garden, Fanatics Fest, Larry David’s new HBO show, most buzzed-about New York sports event and more.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: I wrote a column last week saying that sports needs more weekday afternoon games. A lot of people reminded me that the Cubs used to play nothing but day games at home up until 1988. Here is the opening to Chicago’s first home night game, featuring Harry Caray and Bill Murray.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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